The invention relates to a motor vehicle that is equipped with a device for automatically actuating a clutch in the drive train. The automated actuation of the clutch is directed by a control unit which, in turn, is responsive to a control signal from an electronic stability system (ESS). The control signal indicates when the electronic stability system is in action. The control unit controls an actuator that sets the magnitude of the torque that the clutch will be able to transmit. The invention further includes within its scope a process as performed by the inventive device.
Electronic stability systems for motor vehicles are generally known, for example from the DE publication "VDI-Report 1224". An electronic stability system of the known state of the art includes, e.g., an anti-lock braking system (ABS), an anti-slip regulating system (ASR) and/or a traction-control system. Based on signals generated by sensors, the stability system keeps track of the moving or traveling condition of the motor vehicle and compares the sensor signals received with typical sensor data of traveling situations stored in the electronic memory of the system. This allows the system to make an assessment of the current traveling situation. In case the current traveling situation deviates from normal, non-critical conditions that are stored in memory, or if the current traveling situation resembles any critical conditions that are stored in memory, the electronic stability system will transmit commands to actuator systems at the vehicle wheels and/or the vehicle engine in order to get the vehicle back into a non-critical state from the existing situation that has been identified as critical. This can be accomplished, for example, by applying the brakes to at least individual wheels or by a controlled cutback of engine power. A wheel slippage situation is managed by adjusting engine torque through a throttle-valve control or by adjusting the braking force at individual wheels though an anti-lock braking system. This reduces the power transferred through the slipping wheels and thereby cuts back on the slippage. The electronic stability system further comprises a sensor to detect rotations of the vehicle about a vertical axis, i.e., situations where the vehicle is about to spin out of control, so that the stability system can effectively counteract the problem by a controlled steering maneuver.